Broken Promises
by Verzabeth
Summary: Definition of "Promise": A declaration or assurance that one will or will not do a particular thing or a particular thing will or will not happen. Rated M Falice and more
1. Why Me?

" _Why? Why me?"_ Elizabeth Susan Cooper lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling as she held tight to the cover over her. She sighed, closing her eyes before pulling the blanket over her head. She turned over onto her side, straining to plug her ears. She wished so hard for a house that had soundproof rooms throughout it. Trying to drown out the noises coming from down the hall, she prayed to quickly fall asleep so she wouldn't have to hear it anymore. This was awkward. This was just so so awkward and painful to her ears as well as her emotional stability.

Betty kicked herself for forgetting to plug in her iPod when she left the house today. It was too dead now to even turn on so she couldn't listen to her music, pretending she was not hearing what she heard. Growing up, she was always so grateful when she'd be at school and her classmates would share embarrassing stories about hearing their parents going at it down the halls in their houses and she would never have a story to tell. Frankly, she'd never heard her mother and father. Not once. A part of her was given the capability to believe that they had only slept together to conceive her and her siblings and that was it. They never again had sex. Ever. Growing older, Betty realized that was probably untrue and maybe Hal and Alice Cooper were smart and efficient and only planned intimate moments when the kids were not home or when they were on lunch break at work or something. She didn't care. She didn't want to think about her parents. EVER.

But now...her goal in never thinking about it had been compromised.

She remembered dinner that night. Just her, her mother, and Chic. They spoke of Polly and wondering how the twins were doing. They enjoyed their food with light smiles plastered upon their faces. But wait….There was still another empty chair at the dining room table. Betty had soon begun to notice her father's absence and she couldn't help but miss him and his terrible 'dad jokes.' But things were for the best. She had never seen her mother smile so much in all of her marriage to Hal as she had seen since they filed for divorce. After dinner, Betty and Chic did the dishes together while Alice headed out the door to meet Hal at Pop's with their divorce lawyers to discuss paperwork and the kids.

As Betty curled up into a ball underneath her covers, she couldn't help but wish for Hal's absence again. She had begun to miss him, yes. But she preferred silent nights and simpler times when she'd never heard sex noises coming from the master bedroom down the hall. " _Great."_ She thought to herself. " _My parents are having divorce sex the night before my early morning driver's test. Even if they stop...I still won't be able to sleep knowing what just happened and fearing that I may have nightmares about it."_

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a knock on her bedroom door. She cringed, unplugging her ears as the uncomfortable sounds grew louder once again. Slowly standing from her bed, she put her hands in her hair, giving it a mighty tug before heading to open her door.

"Betty." Chic quietly whispered when his little sister opened the door. "Are you-"

"Incredibly disturbed? Yes!" She interrupted before her older brother laughed.

"Here." He offered her a pair of his noise-cancelling headphones. "I had a feeling you would be."

"Awww. Thanks, Chic. But my iPod's dead." They both continued to whisper, hoping neither person from the other room would come out into the hall if they heard their children's voices.

"You can use mine. Hold on." He handed her the headphones, basically forcing them into her hands before heading back to his room and quickly returning. "Here."

Betty stared down at the devices in her hands. "What about you?" She courteously asked.

"I'll be fine. Living in that motel for the passed year has really helped me train myself to drown out noises from other rooms." He chuckled. "The walls in that place are a lot thinner than the walls in here, believe it or not."

"Oh god!" Betty gave a look of disgust and Chic awkwardly nodded with confirmation. "Alright. Well, thank you, Chic."

"Goodnight, Betty." Her big brother said before going back to his room.

Betty quietly shut her door and, without hesitation, placed the big headphones over her ears. She quickly plugged them into the iPod, turned it on and set the volume to full blast. When, finally, all she could hear was the music, she deeply sighed with relief and headed back to her bed, doing her best to forget what just happened and attempting to fall asleep.

The next morning, Elizabeth awoke to the vibrations of her phone's alarm clock, which she had set to about an hour early so she could quickly get ready for her driver's ed test. With one big stretch of her arms, she sat up and pulled the headphones off of her head, content to hear nothing but silence and the wind blowing outside her bedroom window. She stood, turning to look out of it at Archie's bedroom window across from hers. She sighed, seeing that it was empty and she got to changing out of her pajamas.

When she put her hand on the doorknob to leave her bedroom, she hesitated, unsure if she could face her parents after the *commotion* the night before. Her stomach growled and she frustratedly sighed, knowing she couldn't avoid her parents for the rest of her life, so she might as well get it over with immediately. With a shake of her head, Betty opened her door and headed down the first few steps.

She took each step with caution, afraid to face whomever it was she could hear in the kitchen on the first floor. She hoped to God it was Chic. Maybe he would give her a ride to her driver's test and she'd pass the test, get her license, and take his car far far away from Riverdale and her parents. When she made her way to the last few steps, she held her breath to slowly turn on the balls of her feet, seeing the man that stood over the stove in the kitchen.

The breath she had been holding in harshly escaped her lips and she turned to run back up the stairs. She stopped just outside her mother's bedroom with her fist in the air, ready to knock. But she stopped. She stared at the white door with hesitation and slowly lowered her hand. With a sigh, she turned and headed down to Chic's room, knocking on his door instead. "Chic? Chic wake up. Are you in there?" She quietly said through the door.

"Oh….Betty." Jumping at the sound of the voice, Elizabeth abruptly turned to see the man at the top of the stairs. "Good morning." He smiled, carrying the tray of food in his hands as he headed to pass her. "Just bringing your mother some breakfast in bed."

Just as he made his way around her, her mother's bedroom door opened, revealing Alice Cooper in nothing but a flannel shirt that barely covered her thighs and was obviously, very lazily buttoned. Her hair was disheveled and she held onto the door knob as she leaned her head against it lovingly. "Good morning, Elizabeth." She suddenly seemed embarrassed, looking at her daughter down the hall. "Chic said he would take you to your driver's test today. Is that okay?" When her youngest barely nodded, she felt her cheeks growing red as she clearly noticed Betty's uncomfortable and shocked state. "Good luck, sweetie. I know you're gonna ace it." When Betty did nothing but continue to stare at her mother and the man that finally made his way to the master bedroom door, Alice averted her eyes from her teenage daughter and she smiled up at FP. Looking down at the tray of food, she blushed. "So, that's where you were." She tried to mumble, hoping not to make Betty anymore uneasy. "No one's made me breakfast in bed, since….well, since you." She reached onto the tray for a strawberry and happily took a bite before moving aside so FP could walk in with a large grin. She looked down the hall once more, to see Betty's eyes widen even more in the realization that this was not the first time FP and Alice have been together and she nervously gulped before closing her door and joining FP inside.


	2. Like A Queen

"You need to get a quieter bed." FP chuckled as he leaned his back against the headboard before eating another piece of fruit.

Alice sat in the middle of the bed, propped up on her knees, finishing a piece of bacon. "Well, I know that now. It's been awhile since this bed has seen some action." She joked, taking one last bite.

FP never smiled at the 'joke.' He stared lovingly at her before feeling his heart flutter. "Hal is one son of a bitch."

Alice's smile faded. "Oh, come on now. Stop it, FP. Let it go."

Jones sat up, feeling his stomach jump at the sight of her in his shirt. "No! I'm not gonna let it go. That bastard had no right to say what he said."

Alice looked down at the floor beside the bed. "Mmmmaybe he did a little bit." She shrugged one shoulder.

"No." FP moved closer to her, taking her chin in his hand and forcing her to look at him. "He didn't. You are fucking gorgeous and that scares him because he knows you would have an easier time finding someone again than he ever would. That doesn't make you a whore."

"FP, you didn't hear the full conversation at Pop's, did you?" She asked him, pulling his hand down from her face, playing with his fingers in her own.

"Does it matter?" He wondered, looking down at his hand in her bare lap.

"Yes. Because you should know that he's already been sleeping with someone else. Way before the divorce was even discussed." She stared down at their intertwined fingers and watched as FP pulled his hand out of hers.

"And he thinks he has a right to call YOU a whore?" Fury lit up in his eyes. "Have YOU slept with anyone since you'd been married? ANYONE?" He asked for confirmation of her pure heart.

She shook her head like a little kid. "No."

"Wow. What an asshole." He looked up into her wet eyes, seeing them fill with tears. He grabbed the tray in front of him and set it down on the floor beside the bed. After doing so, he brought himself closer to Alice, taking her face in his hands. "Hey….you're better off without him, alright? He doesn't deserve you and you don't deserve to be treated like that."

She looked carefully into his eyes and she melted inside, grabbing ahold of his waist. "How do I deserve to be treated?"

A look of extreme intensity came across his face and she could tell that whatever he was about to say….he meant it. "Like a queen."

She didn't know what it was, but the moment he said it, she grew warm and very turned on. A small moan escaped her lips as she closed her eyes. Squeezing the sides of his white t-shirt, she thought about taking it off of him, but there was a knock on the door.

Clearing her throat, she answered. "Yeah?"

"Mom, we're heading to the DMV." Betty reluctantly squealed through the closed door.

"Okay. Be safe, sweetie." Alice quickly cleared her throat. "You've got this!"

"Thanks." Betty said with a saddened tone before leaving.

It was silent in Alice's bedroom for a while as they listened to the front door close and Chic's car drove off. The soon-to-be former Mrs. Cooper looked into intense brown eyes. "Do you think she's mad at me?"

"No." FP responded. "She's more in shock than anything."

"Are you sure? Because she looked mad."

"No, she didn't."

"She didn't?"

"No." FP lied.

"Why do I feel like she looked mad?" Alice continued.

"Because...because you were further down the hallway. And you're not wearing your contacts so you couldn't see her very well. I was closer to her and to me, she just looked surprised." He gave Alice a small peck kiss on the lips.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Don't worry." He quickly kissed her again. "Trust me." He moved to kiss her on the neck, causing her eyes to involuntarily close.

"FP." She whispered, feeling the burn at her core.

"Mhm?" He asked, continued to nip at her neck and jawline.

She grabbed his head, pushing it away from her so they could look into each other's eyes again. "You really think I deserve to be treated like a queen? Or are you just saying that?"

"I'm not just saying that." Alice gave him a look of doubt. "I'm NOT!" He swore. "You ARE a queen." He began to unbutton his red flannel that she wore, opening it slightly to expose the inside curves of her breasts. Alice felt a little chill as he did so and he shuddered with anticipation at his touch, longing for him to hurry. "You're…" He kissed a different part of her body in between almost every word. "...gorgeous….like a queen." Alice's eyes fell closed and she gently moaned. "You….kick ass….like a queen. When you enter a room…..all eyes turn to you….like a queen. People are….afraid of you…." Another kiss. "In the best way….You're….strong…..You….speak your mind…..You….are….a….queen." FP gave her one last kiss on the lips before finally pushing the flannel off her shoulders, exposing her chest completely.

Alice followed by pulling his t-shirt off over his head and reaching down to unbutton his jeans. She laid back on the bed as he hovered over her and she slid his pants down to his knees. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he positioned himself at her entrance. Hearing her whimper caused him to grow harder and he entered her. "Fuuuuck!" She slowly whispered. FP took hold of her wrists and pushed them up over her head, pinning them down as he intertwined his fingers with hers.

"I fucking love you." He said as he pulled out of her and moved back in.

"Wait!" She stopped him. "What?"

"Ali." He practically whined, still inside her.

Hearing him call her that, caused her heart to jump. He only ever said her nickname when he was feeling deeply and she felt herself growing nervous. She thought they just had a late night fuck after her divorce meeting at Pop's, but now...she didn't think he was seeing it that way. "FP." She felt her eyes sting with tears.

"I never stopped."

"Never stopped what?" She pushed him off of her and sat up, afraid she already knew the answer. She put the flannel back on and pulled it tightly shut, hugging herself to cover her breasts. "FP." She sadly said, feeling her heart pound within her own chest as the silence grew more painful.

He sighed, feeling butterflies forming. "Why did you leave me, Alice? We had a good thing."

"Oh, we had a good thing?" She repeated with hostility. "You call all those fights a good thing, FP?"

"Fuck, Alice! Why do you have to be like this?"

"Oh, like what, FP? Like what?" She wondered, holding tighter to his flannel.

"Like YOU!" Once he grew soft again, he stood, pulling his jeans back on and buttoning and zipping them up. "You always do this."

"Do what?" She asked calmly from the bed.

"You sabotage something when you feel it's going well." He let out a ridiculous chortle. "Maybe that's why you stayed with Hal all these years. You two never had a good thing. So there was nothing to sabotage."

"Oh, I sabotage a good thing, FP? I do?" She hopped off the bed on the other side. "What about high school? YOU were the one who sabotaged us. Not me!"

"Alice." He attempted to interrupt.

"We were getting married, FP. We were running away to get out of here. But you went right ahead and joined the Serpents. I'M not the one who sabotaged us. YOU did!"

It instantly went silent.

"Alice…." FP began in a sad tone. "You don't understand."

"No! I DON'T understand! So, please….enlighten me!" FP did not respond. "You were always telling me how you couldn't stand your father, FP. You constantly rebelled against him. And then you went and joined the Serpents for him!? It doesn't make sense! None of it did!"

"Ali, there was a reason things went down the way they did. I just…"

"What? You just what? Wanna sit there and tell me how you've loved me for the past 20 years?" Again, there was no answer. "Get out."

"Alice-"

"GO!" She pointed to the door and refused to look at him.

FP sighed, grabbing his white t-shirt and leaving. Alice stood there, even moments after he had gone. She finally let the tears fall and she angrily ripped off his flannel before putting on one of her nighties and crawling right back into bed.


	3. Misfits

*25 Years Ago*

"Hey, gorgeous. Wanna shack up later?"

"Shove it up your ass, Hank." The teen mumbled under her breath.

"What was that, hoe?" The tall, blonde senior boy moved in closer to the freshman girl, cornering her between the wall and her locker in the hallway of Southside High. "Penny, you better watch the way you talk to us upperclassmen." He leaned his chest up against hers as she longed to get away.

"Show her who runs this school, Hank." Butch, another senior demanded from Hank's group of friends watching nearby.

Hank looked back at his friends, winking at them before making sure no teachers were around. "You sure you don't wanna meet up later?" He tried seducing her, rubbing her cheek with the back of his hand. "We all know what you did with Tony." Fourteen year old Penny Peabody opened her mouth to say something, but Hank grabbed her face in his hand, keeping her mouth shut. "And I don't wanna hear another lie about how he raped you." He let out an eerie laugh. "We've all known since you moved here that you're a little slut. And you probably liked it." He moved in to steal a kiss from her, but he was interrupted by someone putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hank Spencer. What the fuck do you think you're doing to the poor new girl?"

Hank rolled his eyes as he turned to look at the disrupter. "Alice Smith...what's it to ya?"

"I think you owe her an apology." Alice demanded with her arms folded over her chest.

"Doesn't mean she's gonna get one." He moved in closer to Alice. "Maybe you just want the same treatment."

"Oh? I do?" Alice smiled and nodded with a laugh just before kneeing him right between the legs. "Get to class, jackass." She turned and saw his group of friends staring at her in shock. "What?" She asked them. "Do YOU want the same treatment?" Before she could say another word, all the senior boys ran in different directions toward their next class while Hank stood, hunched over, still in pain. The sophomore girl moved in closer to him, bending over to make threats in his ear. "If I see you bothering her one more time….you're gonna get a lot worse than what I just gave you. And trust me….it won't be the type of pain that you like." She stood straight up again and watched him limp down the hall toward the nurse's office for an ice pack.

"Why did you do that?" Penny quietly asked from her position against the wall. She tugged at the sleeves of her shirt, holding them in her tight fists with timidity. She let out a pained chuckle. "You know what everyone says about me."

"Yes. But I don't care about them. Even if the rumors are true or they're not...no one deserves to be treated like that." Alice watched her bite her nails, still never moving. "Are you okay?" Without even a nod or a smile, Penny averted her eyes from Alice and looked down at the floor beneath her. "I don't know why I asked that." Fifteen year old Alice continued. "Of course you're not." She took ahold of Penny's hand and pulled her out of the corner. "Hey...some friends and I are sneaking out of school early. Wanna come with us?"

Afraid it was all some trick so more kids could bully her, Penny was reluctant to respond. "I...I don't know." She shook her head. "Thank you for saving me just now, but I don't need a pity party or people pretending to be my friends."

"Good thing that's not what this is." Young Alice smiled, pulling Penny down the hall with her toward one of the school's back doors where they were greeted by five of Alice's other friends.

They all ran away from Southside High, sneaking off in the hopes that no teacher would spot them in the parking lot. Making their way across town, they found themselves walking along the train tracks. Alice and her friend, Nani, tried to walk on the tracks like a balance beam while the guys, Beau, Tall Boy, FP and Gash, spoke about football and wishing their school had enough money for a team. Penny tagged along behind, keeping to herself as she silently laughed at jokes they all made.

"Hey, we're here." Gash said, jumping off one of the tracks.

They all looked up to see the abandoned factory he had been leading them to. "Whoa!" Both FP and Tall Boy said together.

"Hey, do you think there's ghosts in there?" Nani asked with mystery as she hopped down from the track as well. "Like, maybe ghosts of old factory workers who died while working here?" She winked at Alice who shook her head with annoyance.

"No. It probably just smells in there." Alice suggested.

"Like what?" Beau wondered.

"I don't know. Dust?" Alice responded.

"Boring." Tall Boy admitted.

They all headed toward the building, making their way to the fence that blocked it off from the rest of the world. "After you." FP said to all three girls.

"Oh, don't be a pussy." Nani said, climbing up and jumping over it with little effort. "Hah!" She exclaimed when she jumped down, looking at the other six teens on the other side of the fence.

"Okay." Alice began. "Come on." She turned to Penny, who nervously stepped forward.

"I've never done something like this before." She spoke so only Alice could hear her.

"Come on, don't worry. I'll go first and catch you on the other side." The Smith girl smiled and climbed over it, waiting for Penny to attempt the climb as well. "It'll be fine, I promise." She waved the freshman on over and the shy blonde nervously obeyed.

"See? That wasn't so bad." Nani chimed in, inching closer and closer to the building. Penny shook her head no as she felt Alice's hands still around her waist from helping her down.

"Hey, wait for us." The men all said as they noticed Nani too anxious to wait any longer. She had gone on ahead, making her way to the gray door on the side of the abandoned factory.

Everyone else joined her and looked up at the broken windows that towered over them. FP and Tall Boy took turns trying to pick the lock to the door while Penny gulped, looking around to see if anyone was coming and she felt a hand grab hers. "We'll be fine." Alice whispered to the youngest of the group.

"I can't get this!" Tall Boy turned the knob with frustration before Beau pushed him aside.

"Let the master show you how it's done." He picked the lock for about a minute or two and it finally opened. "Aha!" He bragged, bowing before pushing the door open all the way. "Ladies?" He stepped aside, letting Nani, Penny, and Alice in first.

Alice never let go of Penny's hand and the smaller of the two could feel her head beginning to spin. They made their way inside and FP and Gash looked around for a light switch while Beau ran over to Alice, lifting her up into the air and she screamed. The moment her hand let go of Penny's, the 14 year old no longer felt safe in the dark abandoned building. She stopped walking and stood completely still, refusing to move until the lights were on or she felt Alice's hand again.

"Put me down!" Alice giggled, slapping Beau on the back before he obeyed. She pushed him when he set her down and he backed into a bucket behind him.

The sound of the metal pail rolling across the floor, caused both Nani and Alice to shriek while Penny silently jumped where she stood. "What the hell was that?" Nani asked.

"It's fine. I just ran into something." Beau laughed.

"Guys, guys." Gash shouted from the other end of the large room they stood in.

"What?" FP asked for everyone.

"I found the light switch." He sang, turning it on with a grin.

"Oh, finally!" Nani said when she could finally see. She looked around the place, jumping up to sit on one of the conveyor belts. "Guys, look. Look! I'm a sex doll." She put her arms and legs out, making her mouth into the shape of an 'O'.

"Oh my God!" Alice laughed, jumping up behind her, doing the same thing. "This is now the sex doll factory. Penny, get up behind me and do it so it looks like we're all going down the conveyor belt after being just made."

Penny giggled, shaking her head.

"I call taking this one home!" Beau picked up Nani and she began to slap him the way Alice had to not moments earlier.

"I got sex doll number two!" FP yelled, running down to pick up Alice, but Gash beat him to her.

"Nope! She's mine now." Gash grabbed Alice, who laughed some more.

Tall Boy laughed from behind Penny. "I love you, guys!"

"You go get Penny! Alice is mine!" Gash argued with FP, slapping his hand away as he tried stealing Alice.

FP sighed before turning to look at the youngest. "You know what?" He said to Gash and Alice. "I will gladly take Penny." He walked over to the tiny one, lifting her up with no problem. "She and I will be over here." He brought young Ms. Peabody around to stand behind a machine far from the group with a laugh. After he set her down, he asked, "Are you okay? Sorry about that." He chuckled. "We're a little crazy sometimes."

"It's okay." She laughed as well. "You guys are fun."

"Then why does it seem like you haven't been having much fun?" He asked, looking back at the other five as they fooled around on the conveyor belt, pretending it was a catwalk models walked down.

"I just...I don't know. I'm really nervous around people lately." She whispered, staring down at the floor. "Ever since the whole thing with Tony happened, I-" She stopped, looking back up at him. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, I hardly know you."

"Hey, if you need to get something off your chest, tell me. I'm a good listener and I don't judge. I have an alcoholic dad who's the leader of a gang. Okay? You can tell me anything, any time." He put a hand on her shoulder. "And you can trust me. You can trust all of us."

"Why are you all being so nice to me? For all you know...the rumors about me could be true." She looked back over to the rest of the group with scared butterflies.

"We know that they're not." FP admitted.

"How?"

"Because you're not the only one who Tony has hurt in that way." He, not very subtly, looked over to Alice, who was now on the conveyor belt, giving Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have A Dream' speech. "If you wanna talk to someone about this...talk to us. She told us everything and we were there for her. You can trust that we'll be there for you too."

Penny looked over at Alice, seeing her smiling and having a good time. She jumped down from the conveyor belt and gave Gash a hug before Nani and Tall Boy got on, pretending to do the routine from 'Dirty Dancing.' Watching Alice smile and laugh along with her friends caused something in Penny to light up and she wanted that too.


	4. New To The Group

*25 Years Ago*

Nani let out a dramatic gasp when she came to a sudden realization. "Guys!"

Beau mimicked her dramatic state with his own dramatic gasp. "What?!"

"This is the perfect place to play Hide and Seek." She jumped down from the conveyor belt, looking over to Penny and FP behind the giant factory machine. "Guys, are you done pretending to make out over there?" She joked. "Come here! We should totally play Hide and Seek."

FP took Penny by the hand and led her back to the group. "I don't know. That might be kinda dangerous." He admitted.

"That's what makes it more fun." Alice admitted, giving him a slight punch on the arm.

"Then we should go ghost hunting in the basement." Tall Boy suggested.

"What makes you think there's even a basement here?" Beau wondered.

"Ummm...it's a factory. An old one. There's gotta be a basement." Tall Boy responded with an obvious tone.

"Come on! If it'll make you feel better. We can have teams. I pick Timothy!" Nani ran over to Gash, putting her arms around him.

"Don't call me Timothy!" Gash begged, returning her hug.

"How did you get the nickname 'Gash' anyway?" Penny spoke for the first time in front of the whole group.

"You see this?" He put his hand up to reveal a large scar on the palm of it. "I fell out of a tree during recess when I was seven. I wasn't very popular in school so no one could ever remember my name and they all just started calling me 'Gash,' because of the big gash in my hand from when I fell. That was the only thing I was known for at the time."

"Ow!" She exclaimed. "What about you, Tall Boy? Well...it's kind of obvious isn't it?" She chuckled, measuring his height to the other three guys. "What's FP stand for?"

"It's-"

"Alice, don't!" FP demanded.

"FORSYTHE PENDLETON!" Both Alice and Nani screamed before FP could stop them and they all laughed.

"Wow." Penny laughed as well.

"Come on….let's play Hide and Seek!" Nani begged.

"Wait! Do you guys hear that?" Beau asked.

"What?" Everyone asked.

"Someone's coming." He whispered. "Gash, shut off the lights! Everybody hide."

"Wait, guys…" FP started.

"Shhh!" Alice grabbed FP and Penny and pulled them under the conveyor belt with her.

"Hold on." FP tried to say, but everyone shushed him.

"Hello?" Came a new voice from outside the gray door. It slowly squeaked open and they heard footsteps around the dark area. "Is….anybody here?" The footsteps stopped as if the newcomer were listening for any type of movement. "Helloooo?" The footsteps moved again and stopped right by Alice, Penny, and FP. Alice held tight to Penny's hand before FP started to squirm.

"FP, no!" Alice did her best not to whisper too loudly. "No!"

"GOTCHA!" FP yelled as he grabbed the stranger's foot.

"Oh my God! FP?!" The person jumped, reaching around for Forsythe. "What the hell?!"

"Turn the lights on, guys! It's just my buddy, Fred. From the Northside." FP called out. "That's what I was trying to tell you." He laughed once more at how much he scared Fred Andrews and the lights were finally turned back on. "I told him to meet us here."

"You scared the shit out of us!" Alice said, helping Penny stand up from under the conveyor belt.

"I scared you?!" Fred pointed to himself. "You guys scared the shit out of ME!" He argued. "I thought I was gonna get attacked by a poltergeist or something."

"See?! I thought there were ghosts here too!" Nani said with her hands on her hips.

"Are you okay?" FP asked, still laughing.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Fred said, patting him on the shoulder. "What are you guys up to?"

"Well...Nani, here, was just trying to convince us to play Hide and Seek." FP answered.

"Here? Are you crazy?" Fred asked. "What if there ARE poltergeists in here?"

"Then we'd have a good story to tell later." Nani giggled, resting her arm on Tall Boy's shoulder when he sat down on a desk beside her.

"Mmmm...no. I'm not down for that." Fred responded.

"You're no fun." Nani replied. "FP, why'd you invite him?"

"Because he IS fun. He's just smart." They all laughed and the Jones kid introduced them. "Fred, this is Alice, Nani, Beau, that's Tall Boy right there….you've met Gash, and this is the new addition to our family...Penny Peabody."

"Penny Peabody? Have we met before?" Fred wondered.

"Well...I, ummm…I was a cheerleader for Greendale and I was on their basketball team." She quietly admitted.

"Oh, that's right! Weren't you the cheerleading captain? As a freshman? We played you guys back at the beginning of the school year. And your basketball team was amazing. My girlfriend, Mary, played too and she said you were the lead scorer for your team." Fred smiled. "She hated playing you, 'cause you were so good." He laughed.

Penny giggled. "Yeah….that was me."

"Do you play at Southside High?" He asked.

"No. Um...I don't…." She shrugged. "No."

"Why not? You could get a great scholarship for being the lead scorer." Fred encouraged.

"Yeah, but...I don't know. I'd rather not put myself out there at Southside High." She looked around at her classmates who knew what she meant and she hated seeing how shocked they were to hear she used to be so beloved at her old school.

"Why? What's-?" Fred began, but when he noticed the caution on everyone else's face, he stopped. "Is Southside High really that bad?"

"No, no. It's not Southside High. It's just...me." Penny began with a light chuckle.

"No it's not, Penny." Alice angrily protested. "It's everyone else. You don't deserve the shit you're getting here."

"Alice? Alice...it's okay." FP grew wary of Ms. Smith's current state as she made her hands into tight fists, digging her nails into her skin.

"Ace." Beau put a hand on Alice's shoulder, also seeing her uncontrollable side coming out.

Alice shook his hand off her shoulder and walked away from the group. "I need a minute." She put her hand over her mouth and walked to the back of the factory.

Penny's eyes followed her and her heart broke, knowing exactly how she must feel. "Excuse me." She said to the group, heading over to see Alice who sat on a chair under a balcony of some sort near the corner of the room. "Al-Alice?" She said, approaching her. "Are you alright?"

Alice looked up to her new friend. "Yeah." She shook her head. "I'm sorry. Sometimes when I get angry I can get violent, so I had to calm down. I don't want you to have to see me like that on our first day hanging out." She laughed.

Penny laughed too, kneeling in front of her. "I wouldn't mind. You weren't exactly calm in the hallway at school today anyway." She joked about when Alice kneed Hank in his most sensitive area.

"That's true." Alice giggled.

"Hey…" Penny said sadly. "FP told me about you and Tony." She took hold of Alice's hand. Looking into her eyes, she let a few tears fall. "I'm sorry."

Alice looked down at the crying freshman and she broke. "I'm sorry, too." She pulled Penny in for a hug while they cried and they both sat there for a moment before the rest of their friends, including Fred, made their way over to them, gathering around both girls and forming a group hug.


	5. Expelled

*Present Day*

Alice stood in the kitchen, chopping up some vegetables for lunch. She sighed, praying that her migraine would go away, cursing the pills that she took which did not work. Eventually, she stopped, putting the supplies and food away, promising herself that she'd finish later.

She laid down on the couch with a cold wet cloth over her eyes and forehead, attempting to take a nap. Soon, the front door opened and her son and daughter walked in with smiles on their faces. Betty's soon vanished when she saw her mother, remembering that morning.

"Oh, hey, kids." She strained to say, pulling the cloth off her face. "How'd it go?"

"I passed." Betty said as if it were no big deal.

"I knew you would." Alice struggled to smile through her pain. "Did you drive home?"

"Yupp." Betty held up Chic's keys to prove it.

"Congratulations, baby!" She slowly stood, giving Betty a hug that she did not genuinely receive back. "I was gonna make lunch, but I have a massive headache right now, so I'm gonna try to rest and hopefully I'll feel better in a couple hours."

"Mr. Jones didn't stay to make you lunch in bed?" Elizabeth asked with a hint of attitude as she headed into the kitchen.

"No. He...he had to work today." Alice said, sitting back down on the sofa, touching the cloth to her forehead.

"So what is that all about, huh?" Betty asked, looking in the fridge for something to snack on. "You and FP?"

"Betty, honey….I really can't have this conversation right now, okay? My head is really killing me." Her mother spoke quietly.

"Do you want me to make you some tea?" Chic asked, looking down at her with empathy.

"Oh, sweetie. You don't have to." Mrs. Cooper leaned her head back to rest on the back of the couch.

"I will." Her son took off his jacket and headed to the kitchen.

"My boyfriend's dad?" Betty whispered loud enough for the other two to hear.

"Listen, I know we have a lot to talk about. But not right now." Alice's voice continued to grow softer and softer. "And Chic, there's something I need to tell you, too." Her voice began to trail off and it ended with a soft hum as she finally fell asleep.

Chic pulled one of the blankets off the other sofa and placed it on his mother before returning to the kitchen to make Betty and himself and sandwich. After they finished eating, he set the tea kettle on the stove for Alice.

"Why are you so nice to her all of a sudden?" Betty asked quietly, looking to the living room to make sure her mother still slept. "It wasn't too long ago that you hated her for giving you up and now you're making her tea and covering her in a blanket?"

"Betty, there's something you need to understand about Mrs. Cooper. Even I understand it and I've only lived here for about a month. She's the type of person that will do whatever it takes to make sure the people she loves KNOW that they are loved. Sure, she's a bit cold hearted towards strangers, but when it comes to her family, she's super protective. I've noticed that in the short time I've been here. And if anyone crosses her family, she finds it hard to forgive them."

"Yeah, I get that." Betty responded. "But sometimes her actions are very questionable."

"Whose aren't?" Chic responded. "Didn't you just help me clean up a dead body? Didn't you just tell me that you kissed another guy and lied to your boyfriend about it? Aren't you hiding webcamming from your mother? Why? Because you don't want anyone to get hurt. It's the same with her. She's just doing what she thinks will savor the hurt from getting to you."

Betty looked over at her sleeping mother and she sighed, realizing just how right he was. "Finding you was probably the best thing for us." She admitted with a weak grin.

"And for me."

Some time passed and the whistling of the teapot awoke Alice from her nap. Chic poured her her cup of tea and he graciously brought it over to her. "Thank you, Chic." She smiled.

"How's your head?" He wondered.

"A little better. Thank you."

"Mom?" Betty called from the dining room. "Can we talk now, please?"

Alice slowly stood, bringing her tea with her as she lazily made her way into the dining room to sit across from Betty. Chic followed and sat beside her. "I guess I should start from the beginning." She sighed, putting her face in her hands for a moment before continuing.

&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&&%&%&%&%&&%&%&%&%&&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&

*25 Years Ago*

"Hey, Penny!" Alice ran up to her new friend the next morning at school. "Wait up!"

"Um, hi, Alice." Penny awkwardly pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear as she looked down at the tiled floor beneath them.

"How are you, today? Any trouble?" Alice asked with protection in her tone.

"Oh, um." Penny giggled. "So far, no."

"Good. Hey...we're going back to the factory later today, you wanna come again?"

"Yes, of course." For the first time, Penny responded without hesitation.

"Awesome! We-" Alice was interrupted by a commotion they had heard on the other end of the hall behind them. Both girls stopped walking as they watched students from one end of the hall run toward them, passing by and heading to the ruckus behind. "What the hell?" Alice looked over her shoulder to see a large mob of students encircling some others. "Come on." Alice grabbed Penny's hand, pulling her closer to the riot. When she pushed through the crowd to be in front, Penny's hand still in hers, she gasped. "FP! What the hell?!"

"Oh my god!" Penny quietly exclaimed, looking at the drops of blood on the floor under FP. Her eyes followed the blood trail to the other student whose nose was violently dripping.

"You fucking prick!" FP screamed before waling Tony once more, sending him to the floor.

"Alright, alright! Everyone! Back to class! Now!" The school principal cut through the posse of teens. "NOW!" He yelled once more and they obeyed save for FP, Alice, Penny, and Tony, who was still on the ground. Soon, the janitor showed up to clean the blood and the principal grabbed FP and Tony by the arm, once he stood, and he glared at Alice and Penny. "Get to class, girls."

Alice began to speak while the principal pulled them away. "FP, what-"

"I'm done looking at his smug face after what he did!" Forsythe yelled with a crack in his voice.

"Oh my god!" Penny said once more, slowly backing up before turning and heading down the hall.

"Penny, wait!" Alice gave FP one last look before turning to run after her.

"He shouldn't have done that." Penny whispered, keeping her head down as she power walked away from the other teen.

"I know." Alice scoffed, catching up to her. "But at least we know he was defending us."

Penny stopped, angrily turning to face Alice. "Don't you get it?!" She shouted. "Tony's pissed! All FP did was get himself into trouble while making you and I even more of a target for Tony now." She lowered her voice again, this time whispering. "Aren't you scared?"

It was silent for a moment while Alice thought of a response. "You know what? No. Because you and I are gonna protect each other. We can kick ass...especially if we stick together. And that's exactly what we're gonna do. From now on, it's you and me. Okay? We walk home together, we walk to school together. You give me your class schedule and I'll give you mine. We're not gonna live in fear. Or else Tony wins and so do all the other rapists and abusers out there." Penny had started to cry and Alice reached up to wipe away her tears. "This is only gonna make us stronger." She pulled Penny in for a hug before they both headed to their next class.

Later on that day, they met up with Nani and the boys and made their way back to the old factory to play Hide and Seek just for Nani. After a few rounds, Fred showed up with his girlfriend, Mary, and her best friend, Hermione. They all sat down to discuss what they'd play next.

"I say we do the ghost hunting thing." Fred and Nani both suggested.

"I think you're nuts." Tall Boy admitted as Mary and Hermione agreed.

"Wait, wait, wait. What about Spin The Bottle?" Hermione suggested with a smirk.

"Absolutely not." Gash protested.

"Mmmm, no." Beau jumped in.

"Yeah. Come on, guys. Why not?" Mary wondered.

"Hey…" Tall Boy pretended to whisper to Beau, but he said it loud enough for everyone to hear. "If we play, you might get to kiss Alice."

"Heyyyy." Alice perked up, having missed a lot of what was being said until then.

"He's kidding." Beau turned and punched Tall Boy in the gut.

"I think we should let Penny decide." Alice graciously offered as the entire group looked over at the shy girl, sitting alone on the conveyor belt.

"M-me?" Penny pathetically pointed to herself, looking around at the older kids.

"Yeah." Alice sent her a bright smile. "Why don't you pick a game?"

"Trust me, it can't be more lame than ghost hunting." Mary glared at her boyfriend.

Penny looked around at, who she associated as, the 'cool' kids, and she felt more confidence, seeing their encouraging smiles looking at her. "Ummm...what about Truth or Dare?"

"Perfect!" FP shouted as he hopped up onto the conveyor belt beside her. "Ow!" He winced in pain at the bruise on his side from today's fight with Tony.

"You alright there, Hoss?" Fred asked, finally noticing the black and blue mark forming over his best friend's left eye.

"Yeah." He groaned.

"What the hell happened?" Hermione wondered.

"Dumbass here, got into a fight at school today." Alice walked over to the conveyor belt, setting a hand on FP's shoulder before jumping up to sit between he and Penny. "I'm not gonna complain...it was for our honor." She put her hand on Penny's beside her and weakly smiled at her before continuing. "But it was still stupid and probably got him suspended."

"Expelled." FP corrected beside her.

"What?" Beau stepped forward.

"What?" Nani sat on the desk beside her.

"Wait! What?" Alice looked to FP on her right.

"That's right." He shook his head with disappointment. "They expelled me." He sighed, looking to Fred. "Looks like I get to go to school with you now."

"You're being transferred to the Northside?" Hermione chimed in.

"Mhm. They think it's gonna be better for my character or some shit like that." Jones scoffed. "But hey…" He saw the sad looks on his friends' faces. "We'll still get to see each other after school and during the Summer. We'll make this our little fort! We can come here all the time. Things will still be the same, guys. I'll always be a Southsider."

"We're gonna miss you so much, though." Alice said, sadly putting a hand on his as well.

"Hey...what did I say? We're still gonna see each other…...Now, who's up for some Truth or Dare?"


	6. Stay Out Of It

*Present Day*

"Wait, wait, wait. So...Chic is my HALF brother? And FP is his dad?" Betty's eyes widened and she stared down at the table between her mother and herself. "And Dad has been sleeping with Mrs. Blossom? And what? You and FP are getting back together?"

"Well...I don't know about that." Alice pointed out. "It was just a one night stand."

"Does HE know that?" Betty wondered, finally looking back up into her mom's eyes. "Because he made you breakfast in bed. I don't know any one night stands where the man makes breakfast in bed." She quickly looked down at her mother's blue blouse. "Not to mention, you looked awfully comfortable in his shirt this morning."

"Elizabeth...Things are just way too complicated right now. I don't know if it's the best time." Alice took another sip of her tea before feeling her headache finally disappearing.

"Mom...what are you talking about? You and Dad are getting divorced. Your LOVE child just came back into our lives. Jughead said that Mr. and Mrs. Jones' divorce just got finalized. And he just got out of prison. The timing couldn't be better for you two."

"Whoa! What? Prison?" Chic looked back and forth between his mother and sister.

"Oh yeah. Remember that little thing that we just did a couple weeks ago?" Betty asked. "With the *ahem* and the *ahem*?" Betty decided to spill.

"Yes?" Chic answered.

"Last year, FP did the same thing. He wasn't the killer...but he was the one who covered it up."

"Elizabeth." Alice put her face in her hands.

"What? I'm just-" Before she could finish, her cell phone began to ring. She sighed. "It's Jug." She looked at Chic and her mother before answering the phone. "Hello?...Yeah…..Wait, wait. Calm down…..What?!...Where?...Okay….I'll be right there." She quickly hung up, standing from her chair. "Chic, can I borrow your car?"

"Whoa, whoa!" Alice stood as well. "What's going on?"

"Something's going down at the Whyte Wyrm. He said all Serpents and Serpent allies need to be there." She walked around the table and Chic handed her his keys again. "Thanks." Soon after, Alice quickly stood. "What are you doing?"

"I'm coming with you, Elizabeth. I don't like thinking about you in that place all alone. Alright? I'm coming. And besides...I'm basically a Serpent ally."

"No, you're not." Betty said, looking to Chic who also stood.

"Well...I'm the Serpent leader's ally. Therefore, I should count as one." She couldn't help but smirk as Betty squinted at her.

"Gross." The 16 year old said under her breath before turning to head for the door.

"Can I come, too?" Chic finally asked, realizing he'd be left alone without his car.

"Might as well." Betty exclaimed as she opened the front door to leave, the other two following.

When they arrived at the Wyrm, Alice grabbed ahold of Chic's hand as Betty walked ahead of them, entering the bar. "Betty." They heard Jug's voice coming from a crowd of the Serpents. He walked through the group, making his way over to his girlfriend.

"Jughead, what's going on?" Betty wondered with worry in her voice.

"She's back again." The beanie wearing teen responded.

"What?" Elizabeth asked.

"Who is?" Alice wondered aloud from behind her daughter.

"Who, Jug?" Betty pretended Alice wasn't there.

"Penny Peabody." He practically whispered before-

"Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Second." Penny's voice came from a section of the bar where several Serpents surrounded, making it impossible to see her.

Jughead turned to see his father walking down the last step from the second floor and he headed on over to the smug blonde in the corner of the bar. Serpents parted down the middle of the crowd like the Red Sea as FP made his way to his old high school friend. "Penny...what are you doing here?"

"We've got a problem on our hands, FP." Penny stepped forward, finally visible to Jughead and the three Coopers behind him.

"What is it this time? Is it my son again?" FP's eyes searched the bar for Juggy and when he spotted him near the entrance, he internally gasped upon seeing Alice and her kids present. He ignored them for now, looking back to Peabody.

"No, FP. This is about the Ghoulies."

"What about the Ghoulies?" The Serpent leader asked, panicking in his head as he could only think about Alice.

"Word on the street is...they're planning a massive Southside takeover."

"Why does it matter to you anyway, Penny?" Jughead wondered, causing all eyes to fall on him.

"Boy!" FP started. "You stay outta this."

"But, Dad-"

"NO!" FP turned to face his son, pointing at him with frustration. "Don't make me suspend you again." He angled his body just right so he could see both his son and Penny. "You're lucky she's not helping them destroy us after what you did!" He shouted from the other side of the bar.

"What did he do?" Alice couldn't keep her mouth shut for long.

"Mom." Betty shook her head as she looked over her shoulder at the woman slightly behind her.

"Alice." FP finally acknowledged her presence. "You stay outta this too."

"Wha-I-" She scoffed. "Don't you give me your attitude, Forsythe Junior!" She stepped forward, joining the rest of the gang in its circle around FP and Penny. "I'm allowed to ask questions. Like, for one….what is all this commotion about and why does everyone seem so oddly alert around Penny?" The entire room froze save for Alice who looked around at every Serpent present.

"Betty hasn't told you?" FP asked.

"Told me what? What's going on?" She looked at Penny, who seemed irregular and a bit off in her presence.

"Show her, Penny." FP said as Jughead and Betty rushed over to Alice, Chic eventually following.

Alice looked over to her old best friend and she watched the blonde pull up her sleeve, revealing the scar upon her forearm. "Your t-" Alice remembered very well that that's where Penny's Serpent tattoo was when they were teens and she snapped her head to the teen boy beside her. "Elizabeth….you knew about this?" She asked her daughter, while keeping her eyes fixed upon Jughead.

"Mom, she was horrible to him. To ALL of the Serpents. She-"

"I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT, BETTY!" The room grew eerily silent. "FP, you suspended him?"

"Yes, ma'am." Jones answered.

"That's not enough." She glared at her daughter's boyfriend. "He should be stripped of his jacket and refused presence at any Serpent gatherings until he proves that he can redeem himself."

"Dad, she can't just come in here and-"

"Jughead, I swear to god!" FP started.

"Mom, are you serious? Isn't that a bit extreme?" Betty chimed in.

"Isn't skinning someone alive a bit extreme, Elizabeth?" She finally moved her eyes to her daughter with fire in her own. "I don't know what she did. I don't care what she did. Unless she physically harmed someone...what Jughead did was uncalled for."

"Can I talk to you for a second? Alone?" Betty grabbed her mother's arm and pulled her away from the group for a moment as she began to whisper. "Are you kidding me, Mom? After what Chic did to that man...after we covered it up? And you're gonna sit here judging Jughead for-"

"Elizabeth, what we did was heinous! And I am nowhere near proud of it. What Jughead did is only moving a step closer to do what we did and we don't need that happening again. This gang was formed to keep a group of minorities safe. They were never meant to be violent people and if Jughead stays, influencing the other teens, he's just gonna continue down that same dark path that turns into something as bad as what we did for Chic. Okay? I'm only doing this to protect Jug...and you. And everyone here." Before Betty could respond, she returned to the circle. "Betty and Chic will take Jughead home, but he will leave his jacket here."

"Dad." Jug tried to protest.

"Just go, son." FP shook his head. "Go!" He pointed toward the door and with more than anger, Jughead ripped off his jacket and threw it on the floor.

"Come on, Jughead." Betty grabbed her boyfriend's arm. "Let's go!" She demanded, attempting to pull him away. Chic grabbed Jug's shoulder and pulled him back as well and eventually Jughead gave in, following the other two out to Chic's car.


	7. Double Crosser

*Present Day*

"So, Penny. Long time, no see." Alice put a hand on her hip. "How's lawyer life going?"

"Oh, don't pretend you're interested Ms. Northside." Penny refused to look her directly in the eye. "We've got business to attend to."

"So...this Southside takeover…" FP began.

"I heard they've got someone on the inside." Penny lowered her voice, though everyone could still hear.

"And by someone on the inside, you mean…."

"In here! With us! One of the Serpents!" She slowly nodded. "That's right. Double crosser."

A laugh came from one end of the circle. "That's ridiculous. Each of us took an oath."

"Man, fuck the oath!" Penny said, turning to face that side of the circle. "Jughead took an oath….and look what he did to me!" She angled her body slightly to gesture toward Alice. "Hell, even Alice took an oath back then and she abandoned us." She only looked at Alice for a brief moment before turning away from her again. "Just because someone takes an oath, does not mean they won't break it at some point….There is a double crosser in here and I know who it is."

"Oh yeah, Penny? Who's that?" Another Serpent asked with ridicule in their voice.

"Who's that?" The blonde lawyer pointed to a corner of the circle where they all turned to see one of the members attempting to sneak away. "Gotcha!"

"Get her." FP demanded.

"Ah ah ah!" The 40 year old Serpent woman quickly pulled out a knife, grabbing Alice and putting the blade to her neck. "Come any closer and the wench dies."

"Byrdie, you've always been a real son of a bitch." Penny nodded with her hands on her hips.

"Oh yeah? What does that make you?" Byrdie clapped back as she slowly backed away, holding Alice close to her.

"Byrdie, put down the knife." FP ordered with his hands in the air. "We can figure this out."

"Oh, don't try to mansplain to me how this is all gonna go down. I'll tell you how it's gonna go down. Little Ms. Northside Princess, here-"

"Little?" Alice interrupted.

"Nuh uh! Mama's talking." Byrdie pulled Alice's hair, forcing her head back more to expose her throat. "Little Ms. Northside here is gonna come with me."

Alice couldn't help but chuckle. "Are you sure you wanna do that?"

"I said I'm talking!" Byrdie shouted, taking the knife and slicing Alice's bicep. "Let's go, blondie!" She demanded, speeding up a bit, dragging Alice along.

"Wait, wait!" Penny shouted, with her hands in the air, almost mimicking FP. "Take me instead." She took a few steps forward.

"Penny, no." Alice protested.

"It's fine. It's fine." She took another step. "Better me than you." She let out a pained chuckle. "You have a family and people who care about you. I don't." She pointed to her own chest. "I'll go."

"Honey, that's not how this works." Byrdie laughed. "You don't get to choose who gets taken hostage. That's the whole point of a hostage. Not to mention….this Northside housemom may end up being worth something. Maybe the Ghoulies can hold her for ransom."

"But Byrdie...you're forgetting one thing." Penny continued to slowly walked toward them as they continued toward the door.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" The woman questioned.

"I'm a lawyer. And I know a lot about the Ghoulies. If I didn't….how would I have known about you?" She inched closer and closer. "I will find a way to catch you guys….even if you hold her for ransom."

"Oh yeah? How's that?" Byrdie had stopped walking backward, getting distracted by Penny.

"How's what?" Peabody wondered with her hands still in the air.

"How are you gonna catch us?" Byrdie asked.

"Oh." Penny shrugged. "I don't know….I always have something up my sleeve." And with that, she lunged forward, chaining one handcuff to Alice's wrist. "Oh, welp! Would you look at that!" She held her hand up, which forced Alice's into the air as well. "Now you HAVE to take me with you." Earlier while FP had been speaking to Byrdie, she hadn't seen Penny handcuff one of her own wrists and geniusly hide the empty cuff under her sleeve.

"Or you can just give me the key and I uncuff you two right now." Byrdie suggested.

"Mmm….okay, I guess that's an option, but…" Penny reached into her other pocket and faked a gasp as she threw the key into one of the tanks containing their most vicious serpent. "Oh, no. How will you get it?"

"You have always been the most annoying bitch." Byrdie shook her head. "If you weren't attached to the stepford wife, I'd kill you right here and now."

Penny tilted her head to one side. "But I AM attached to the stepford wife so….hmmm, sorry."

Byrdie rolled her eyes. "Let's go!" The three of them waddled out of the bar, struggled down the stairs and stumbled into the parking lot where they made their way to Byrdie's truck and she forced them into the back. Byrdie closed the hatch, telling them to lie down and keep quiet before getting in the front, starting up the truck, and heading down the road.

"Way to get us both kidnapped, Penny." Alice rolled her eyes at the woman whose hand laid close to her own.

"I don't wanna hear it, Alice. I have a plan." She whispered.

"You have a plan? How did you come up with a plan that quickly?" Alice asked, laying on her side, facing the other blonde.

"We were always stronger together, Alice." Penny brought up as she laid flat on her back, staring up at the roof of the truck.

"Okay, but what's your plan?" The (almost) former Mrs. Cooper wondered.

It was silent for a moment and Penny finally spoke the truth. "Alright, I haven't come up with one yet."

Alice let out a sigh of annoyance. "Well, that's just great."

"I'll get us out of this alive, I promise." Penny retorted with hope.

It was quiet for awhile save for the sounds of the truck bouncing and the wind outside blowing by. Alice's side grew tired and she eventually turned over to lie flat on her back as well and both women stared up at the inside of the truck cap, their hands cuffed together between them.

"So, why did you leave?" Penny finally questioned.

"Hm?" Alice turned her head to look at the Serpent beside her.

"Why did you leave us? You used to love being with the Serpents. You said it made you feel safe." Penny continued to look up at the ceiling of the vehicle, refusing to look to the woman beside her.

"It only did for a little bit...but soon things just got out of hand and I had to go." She sighed. "A part of me never wanted to join them anyway."

"Well...why did you?" Penny's heartbeat increased when she continued. "Was it because of FP?"

"To tell you the truth...yes, it was. I now know that I was joining for all the wrong reasons, but so was he. And we were both stupid teenagers back then. Why did you join? For us?"

"No…" She answered a little too quickly. "I joined for the protection. And then they helped put me through college. I really owe them everything."

"So why'd you get into selling drugs? You know that defies everything they've ever stood for." The older of the two looked up at the truck's white cap once more.

"I got into some sticky situations with some really messed up people. But once I saw the money that came out of it...I became addicted." Penny confessed.

"It's not something you can go to rehab for, Penny. It's something you just stop. When someone asks you if you have drugs to sell, or when someone asks you if you want to sell drugs….you just say no." Alice explained in an obvious tone.

"I know. I know. But I've been doing better. I really have. After that fucking Jones kid left me in a ditch, bleeding, I've been trying to get right with them and right as a person." She chuckled. "I really appreciate you sticking up for me back there and forcing the twerp to leave. You always did have more of a spine than FP."

"I have. Haven't I?" They both laughed and for the first time all night, Penny turned to look Alice in the eye. "Makes me wonder why he joined the Serpents in the first place." With that, Penny internally panicked, looking back up to the roof. "He never did what his dad told him until he joined." She sadly sighed. "Maybe it was for the best that we never got married….What do you think, Pen?"

"Ali, there's something that you should know." Penny painfully closed her eyes.

"Hm? What? What is it?" Alice wondered.

"Seeing that we could end up dying and all….I feel like you should know the truth." The younger one gulped before putting her free hand to her forehead. Her back was finally beginning to feel the pain of the hard surface of the truck below them.

Alice watched her old friend sigh before she asked once more. "What?"


	8. Come Clean

*25 Years Ago*

"Ooooooooo, it's your turn, Mary." Beau said, crossing his fingers.

"Ahem!" Fred raised an eyebrow at Beau as he caught him and Beau nervously chuckled.

"Spin it! Spin it! Spin it! Spin it!" The group chanted and Beau came in late as he looked away from Fred.

The red head sighed as she spun the root beer bottle in the center of the circle. It landed on Gash and as the group cheered, they crawled toward each other, stealing a small kiss from one another. "Okay, Gash! Your turn!" Tall Boy said with excitement when Mary moved back to her spot between FP and Hermione.

"Spin it! Spin it! Spin it! Spin it!" They all chanted again as he did so. The bottle stopped on Alice who rolled her eyes with a grin, crawling into the circle to kiss him.

"Woooooo!" The group clapped and laughed.

"Ooooo, who's it gonna be?" FP winked at her and she rolled her eyes again before spinning the bottle as hard as she could.

The anticipation ate away at Penny as she watched it rotate, passing her several times before it began to slow down. Her heart began to pound as she feared it would or wouldn't land on her. But the one she feared the most….happened.

"Pennyyyy!" Half of the group cheered when it stopped on her. The soon-to-be sophomore internally screamed.

"She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to, guys." Alice said in her usually protective tone. Penny had been playing with a strand of her hair for the passed fifteen minutes and Alice came to know that it was her nervous habit. She was surprised, however, to see Penny look around at the other teens before biting her lower lip and letting go of her hair. She crawled forward, feeling her face growing warm and red. When she finally made it to the center of the circle, she locked eyes with Alice and her heart jumped. "Well?" Alice asked in her sweetest voice. "Are you gonna kiss me?" Penny leaned forward, locking lips with Alice Smith, the girl who saved her from bullies and introduced her to friends, claiming her as their own.

"Woo Woo!" The group cheered and the kiss abruptly stopped when Penny pulled away, remembering the others were there.

"Your turn now, Penny." Hermione told the youngest of the group.

"I don't wanna play anymore." Penny admitted and the others agreed, switching to a fun game of Hide and Seek.

"...and my mother told me that you are it!" Nani sang, choosing Hermione to be the Seeker first.

"What am I counting to?" Mary's best friend asked.

"We usually do 50, but I always feel rushed." Tall Boy admitted.

"Yeah, let's do 100 this time." Beau jumped in.

"Okay." Hermione sat up on the conveyor belt and covered her eyes. "One! Two! Three!"

As she continued to count, the rest of the gang frantically fled to find their hiding spots. While Mary followed Fred everywhere and he tried his best to playfully shoo her away, Gash stole a good spot from Tall Boy, who had to find somewhere small to squeeze into. Nani and Beau found their own place between two machines and Alice went into her own usual spot even other hiders failed at finding. FP found his way underneath one of the other conveyor belts and Penny followed him.

"Seventy Three! Seventy Four! Seventy Five!" Hermione continued to count.

"FP." Penny whispered when she made herself as comfortable as possible.

"Shh!" Forsythe the Second put his pointer finger to his mouth.

"You said that I can trust you with anything, right?" She felt her stomach churning inside. "There's something I really need to tell someone and I know that you'll be okay with it. You're my best friend." She scratched her head. "Well, my second best friend."

"Sure. What is it?" FP put the importance of the game aside, knowing Penny's needs mattered most. Especially since she hadn't been one for talking much in the passed few months they'd known her. When she had to talk….She had to talk.

"I…" She hesitated.

"Eighty One! Eighty Two!" Hermione shouted throughout the building.

"I'm in love with Ali." She said it so fast that he almost couldn't understand her.

"What?"

"I'm in love with Alice." She repeated a bit slower, turning her head to watch Hermione, hoping she wouldn't be able to see their hiding space from where she stood.

"You're-" He stopped, feeling his nerves were suddenly shot.

"Eighty Nine! Ninety! Ninety One! Ninety Two!" The Seeker was almost finished.

"Penny…." He slowly began. "So am I."

Penny's head snapped back to look at him and they stared at each other for a moment.

"Ninety Eight! Ninety Nine!" Penny opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped when she was interrupted by a louder voice. "One Hundred! Ready or not, here I come!" Hermione called out, finally opening her eyes.

It grew silent as she looked around the first floor of the factory, hoping to find someone soon. She yelled out names and made jokes and insults about everyone, hoping it would urge them to respond and she could follow the voice. Her plan almost worked on Beau, but Nani had covered his mouth with her hand before he could get a word out. "Aha!" She said, leaning over to find FP and Penny under the other conveyor belt. "Found ya!" She smiled at them.

"Great job, Hermione." FP quietly said as he and Penny crawled out from underneath.

"FP and Penny have been found!" Hermione yelled out to everyone else.

As Hermione continued to search, Penny made her way over to the main conveyor belt, sitting on it as FP stood, leaning his butt against it beside where she sat. "Penny…" He began in a hushed tone.

"Of course!" She said with a frustrated laugh. A tear fell down her cheek and she looked up to the ceiling, angrily wiping it away. "Of course this would happen to me!" She whispered. "Not that she would date me anyway, but now she would have to choose between you and me. It's a no-brainer she'd choose you."

"Penny. Penny, calm down." He whispered back, turning to face her beside him. He watched her furiously wipe away one more tear. "She's not gonna have to choose between us, okay? Because neither of us will date her. Alright? We'll keep our feelings a secret. Just between you and me."

"Promise me." The former cheerleader and basketball star demanded. "Promise me you won't ask her out." She asked with a broken tone, realizing just how complicated things were getting.

"I promise." FP held her hand in his.

Penny sniffled before weakly faking a smile. "And I promise too."

"Found everyone!" Hermione said with contentment as the rest of the group joined them at the main conveyor belt. "Well, not everyone. I couldn't find Alice until she came out of her spot. She won….again!"

"Where is your secret spot, Ace?" Nani asked.

"I'm not telling." She responded hesitantly as she noticed something was off between Penny and FP, but she brushed it aside as they continued to play their game.

Two years had passed and word had finally gotten out about Alice Smith and FP Jones being deeply in love with one another. Alice had, at some point, moved to the Northside with her parents and FP and Alice were in the same school once again. The moment Penny heard about their relationship, she stopped showing up to their friend group's gatherings at the old factory and she did her best to steer clear of Alice or FP. People at Southside High noticed a change in her and she began to dress differently. She began to only wear black and she had a new carefree attitude. She joined the Serpents in order to protect herself, feeling abandoned by her usual partner in crime, Alice Smith. Penny begun to get into trouble many times for fights at school and she eventually stopped talking to Alice and FP altogether. Till one day...she ran into FP on her way home from school.

"Penny." He ran up to her as she tried to quicken her step. "Penny, wait up! How come you haven't answered any of Alice's calls? She's been worried about you."

"Oh? Has she? That's nice." She said with sarcasm.

"I have been too." He admitted.

"Oh. You have? Wow. I didn't think you cared about me at all." She continued to walk faster, almost making it home to Sunnyside Trailer Park.

"Why would you think that?" FP wondered.

"You seriously don't remember, do you?" She asked with a shake of her head.

"No?" He was actually beginning to feel winded from her fast pace. "I heard about your suspension last month. What happened?" He held onto one strap of his backpack in one hand as his other hand carried his guitar.

"Got into a fight." She said with her head down.

"You? Why would you get into a fight?" FP looked ahead, seeing the trailer park getting closer and closer.

"Frankie was being a bitch. So I punched her." She admitted, trying to walk even faster.

"That's it? She was being a bitch?"

"Yupp."

"What did she say? Or do?" He wondered.

"She cut me in the lunch line and then called me some names." Penny turned into the trailer park, heading to her house, hoping to get rid of him at his own house, but instead, he followed her.

"Why would you do that?" They made their way up to her porch. "You got so pissed at me for rightfully avenging you and getting expelled for kicking Tony's ass, when-"

"Well, I've changed!" She abruptly turned to look at him in front of her door. "But you wouldn't know that, would you? None of you would. Not after all of you abandoned me."

"Penny….we didn't abandon you. We just….life happened." He watched her look away from him and nod with derision. "But guess what else has happened." He smiled brightly at her when she finally made eye contact with him again. "I'm getting married."

"What?"

"We're getting married." He repeated in a quieter tone, looking around the trailer park to see if there was anyone nearby. "Alice and I. We're running away." He put his hands on her shoulders with excitement. "Come with us….We want you to come with us. We can get out of this shitty town and go somewhere big where things happen! Wouldn't that be great? You could be her Maid of Honor AND my Best Man." He chuckled. "I know it sounds silly, but Fred is too caught up in his father's business here to come with us, but once he graduates, he said he'd come visit us and-"

Penny ripped herself away from him, causing him to let go of her shoulders. "You really don't remember, do you?" She gazed into his eyes, wondering if she could spot a lie.

"Penny, what are you talking about?" He asked, cluelessly.

She scoffed with an annoyed chortle. "Wow. You really forgot." FP slightly shrugged. "No, I'm not gonna run away with you guys so you can get 'married.' And I can't believe you actually fucking forgot! We made a pact, FP. A promise...that neither of us would date her and look what you did. Now, you're going to go get married and have cute, adorable little babies and have a happy life. Excuse me for not wanting to be a part of that." She turned, opening her trailer front door, going in and slamming it shut before FP could follow her in.

"Penny!" He banged on the door. "Penny! I'm sorry! I….." He slowly gave up. "I'm sorry." He leaned his head against the door with a sigh. "I wish there was something I could do to make it up to you."

After a few more seconds of silence, he headed down the first two steps before the door opened again. "There is something you could do." She smirked at him, remembering how badly Forsythe Senior wanted his son to join their gang and he turned around, ascending the stairs once again to hear her out.

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*Present Day*

"And that's when I, unreasonably, manipulated him into joining the Serpents." Penny gazed up at the roof of Byrdie's truck, too afraid to look at Alice as she came clean. "Little did I know that you would follow after him and join too. Seeing you two together was just...I don't even have the words to describe it anymore."

"Penny...what you did tore FP and I apart." Alice said, sadly looking at the woman beside her.

"I know. I know. That wasn't even my intention. It wasn't." She sniffled as tears slid down her temples, falling to the truck floor underneath her. "I just...I wanted him to pay for breaking that promise. And I've held that grudge against him ever since. I even...I'm even going so far as to hate his son for it, which now….after what Jug did to me, I see how what FP did wasn't even that bad. Especially since I knew I wouldn't have had a chance with you anyway." She ridiculously laughed sniffling and wiping away her tears with her left hand.

"Hey." Alice used her free hand to reach over, touching Penny's face and turning it to look at her. "Don't doubt things can happen before you even try them." As she kept her right hand on Penny's cheek beside her, her cuffed left hand grabbed ahold of Penny's cuffed right hand between them. "I'm sorry I didn't notice what was going on with you back then. It was my fault for being blind to it all."

"No." Penny finally turned over onto her side and they faced each other. "It was mine. I should've just told you instead of making him promise not to tell anyone. I guess I just didn't wanna make you choose between us or confuse you or ruin our friendship. I guess what I did did all of that anyway." She sadly laughed, feeling more tears escape her eyes.

"Hey...Penny, it's okay. At least I got to have the perfect family...for a little while." She let her right hand fall from Penny's cheek to play with the other woman's hand that was cuffed to her own. "Now it's time to go die together." She laughed at her horrible joke.

"I guess so." Penny laughed as well before it fell silent in the back of the truck once more.

Their smiles slowly faded and Penny couldn't help but gaze down at Alice's lips, longing to kiss them once more. Alice must have read her mind because not long after, Mrs. Cooper slowly leaned forward, gently kissing the lawyer.


	9. It's Just You And Me

*Present Day*

After they came to one last stop, they heard Byrdie shut off the truck before getting out and walking around to the back to open the hatch. "Alright, ladies! Let's go in to meet The Boss."

"Byrdie!" A new voice was heard from the building in front of the truck. "Where've you been? Took you long enough."

"I kinda had a little mishap trying to take a hostage. But it's okay. I now have TWO hostages." She said, dragging Penny and Alice out of the back of the truck. The nerves in their feet stung when they hit the gravel below so hard.

"Whoa!" The other Ghoulie made his way around the truck with a grin when he saw both women handcuffed to each other. "Well done, Byrdie. Although….The Boss may have a little problem with this." He pointed at the cut on Alice's arm.

"Like I said," Byrdie began, "...I had a little mishap."

"Well, as long as the cut's not too deep." He stepped closer to Alice, putting his thumb on her cut and pushing on it hard. Alice hissed, but she fought the urge to scream. "Should be fine." He let go and licked the blood off his thumb before turning to head back inside.

After a few minutes, the Ghoulie had returned with several others, including The Boss who made his way down the steps toward the three former Serpents. He sniffed the air. "Ahhhhh. I love the smell of fried snake. Nice job, Byrdie." He nodded with approval...though not for long.

The sound of a few police sirens filled the air and Sheriff Keller's voice was heard over the intercom. "Everybody freeze and put your weapons down!" The red and blue lights lit up the night and all officers exited their cars, shielding themselves with the doors and pointing their guns at the Ghoulies. Sheriff Keller spoke through the intercom once again. "Let the hostages go!"

"How did-" Byrdie began to question.

"Put your hands up and let the hostages go!" Keller shouted with authority.

"Alright, alright." Byrdie let go of Penny and Alice, slowly putting her arms up in defense.

One of the deputies cautiously stepped forward, taking Alice by the hand and leading her and Penny to stand behind his police car door. He used his own handcuff key to unlock theirs, freeing them of each other. "How did you guys hear about this?" Alice asked the officer as she rubbed her pained wrist.

"Your son and daughter." He answered quietly. "They followed you all the way from the Whyte Wyrm and let us know every turn they took until we caught up with them. Once we reached Byrdie's truck, we made sure the kids turned around and drove home safely."

"Oh, thank God!" Alice let out a breath she'd been holding in. "Thank you." She thanked him, finally feeling her freedom returning to her.

"Told ya we'd get out of this alive." Penny smiled at Alice.

"I said keep your hands up!" They heard Sheriff Keller yell once more and soon, shots were fired. From which side, they could not tell as they quickly ducked behind the police car door.

"Go around to the back of the car." The deputy ordered Alice and Penny as he took out his firearm. "Go!" He shouted as gunshots came from the Ghoulies.

"Alice?" Penny said the moment they made their way around to the back of the car.

"Hm? What?" Alice leaned up against the trunk, looking to her right. She felt Penny's hand on hers and she looked to the woman on her left. "What?" Penny looked down at the spot of blood on her stomach that quickly grew as her breaths were shortened. "No." Alice put her hand over the wound, hoping to stop the bleeding. "No!" She felt Penny's stomach heave up and down as she struggled to breathe. "Wait, wait, wait!" Alice cried, putting her other hand under Penny's lower back. The wounded Serpent began to slither down the back of the cop car, falling farther into Alice's arms, eventually landing in her lap.

"Alice." She struggled to get out. "T-t-tell-tell FP that I for-forgive him." She could hardly breathe. The less she could, the less Alice could and the journalist fought hard to keep her eyes open as she cried. She felt Penny's body growing cold and panic took over her.

"SOMEBODY HELP?!" She screamed over the sounds of guns going off.

"Al-Al-" Penny fought to keep her eyes open. "Ali….I love y-you." A tear fell down Penny's face. "Th-thank you for sav-saving me."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Penny?! You're not leaving! It's you and me! Remember? It's you and me." Alice cried, hugging the only true best friend she'd ever had tightly to her.

Penny opened her eyes one last time, smiling up at Alice's sad ones. "This is only gonna make you stronger."

Alice felt the moment she left. Something in her soul felt different. She couldn't explain it, but she just knew and she broke right there in the middle of the road, chaos around her as bullets flew through the air. She heard none of it. She bent down, kissing Penny's lifeless body on the forehead as she waited to wake up from her nightmare. She never did.

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*Six Months Later*

"Hey, baby."

"Mmmmm…" Alice lightly hummed with a smile as FP kissed her neck from behind, wrapping his arms around her stomach. "Good morning." She said, standing in front of the stove while she finished up breakfast. "Bacon or sausage?"

"Is that a trick question?" FP asked with a chuckle.

"Ummm, it better not be, Mr. Jones." She responded when he stepped away, finishing to set the table. "If my man prefers sausage, then he may not be my man much longer."

"I'll take the bacon, ma'am." He laughed, sitting down once he finished setting the table.

"Good choice." She giggled. "Kids! Breakfast is ready!" She yelled up the stairs.

"Mom?" Betty said as she made her way down the last step. "Do you know when Polly will be here?"

"I don't know, Betty. She-" Alice was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. "Oh! There she is now!"

"Mom." Polly said as she carried both baby car seats into the house. "I hope you don't mind, I invited Cheryl to eat with us. Is that okay?"

Alice wanted nothing more than to do one of her full body eye rolls, but she kept it in and gestured toward one of the seats at the table. "Of course that's alright, Polly. Have a seat wherever you'd like Cheryl."

"Chic, did you wake up Jughead?" FP asked his eldest son.

"Yeah, he's just changing."

"He better be. I'm not going up there to check every four minutes like yesterday morning." Forsythe the Second received a glare from his wife and he changed his mind. "Just kidding. I'll be right back." He ran up the stairs, much to Alice's wishes and within a few more minutes, both men returned, fully awake.

"I heard there is a new Smith-Cooper-Blossom-Jones family member, excluding my niece and nephew?" Cheryl said with pep and excitement. "May I meet this new addition?"

"Yes, of course. Follow me." Alice said, waiting for Cheryl to stand from her chair. "She's not so good with strangers yet, so when there's lots of people over, we keep her in here, but with one person at a time, she is just so lovable and adorable."

They made their way to the room that used to be Hal's study and Alice carefully and quietly opened the door, letting Cheryl in first and then immediately following as she closed the door behind her. The red head teen knelt down on the ivory carpet, looking lovingly into two big brown eyes. "She's so beautiful, Mrs. Jones!" Cheryl admitted. "How old is she?"

"About two months old now." Alice gushed. "Isn't she amazing?"

"What is she?" She wondered, extending her arms for an embrace from the golden haired pup.

"She's a Lhasa Apso."

"Wow!" She pet the puppy for a little bit before kissing her and heading back toward the door with Alice. "Bye bye, puppy! Bye bye!" Cheryl blew one of her infamous kisses to the dog and left the study, returning to the dining room with the rest of the clan.

Alice stepped out of the room, but she kept it slightly open as she smiled down at her and spoke to her dog before closing the door. "Be good, Penny. I love you! Mwah!"

The End.


End file.
